The present invention relates generally to the field of nutrition, health and wellness. In particular the present invention relates to probiotics and ways to increase their effectiveness. One embodiment of the present invention relates to a combination of probiotics with secretory IgA and possible uses of this combination.
An infection is the detrimental colonization of a host organism by foreign species. Usually, the infecting organism attempts to utilize the host's resources to promote its own multiplication. Thereby, the infecting organism, or pathogen, may interfere with the normal functioning of the host and can lead to more infection related disorders that may have a varying severity and that may lead in the worst case to death.
If there is a synergy between infecting organism and host, whereby the relationship is beneficial for the infecting organism but detrimental to the latter, is characterised as parasitism.
The list of disease linked to infection is huge and the costs associated with the treatment and prevention of infections are significant.
The market for antibacterial agents in the US alone is considered to be around 26 bn US-Dollars.
Infection can be treated today by proper medication. However, the selection of a proper medication requires defining the type of infection to be treated. Bacterial infections are often treated with antibacterial antibiotics. Taking the wrong antibacterial antibiotics in error for treating a specific non-viral infection won't treat the infection and may even be harmful. Further, such medication may always result in unwanted side effects and often requires the supervision of medical personnel.
Additionally, an extensive usage of antibiotics might contribute to the generation of antibiotic resistant infectious species. The Forbes Magazine states in June 2006 that drug resistant infections kill more Americans than AIDS and breast cancer combined.
Hence, the development of compositions that may contribute to reduce the need for antibiotics in society, is presently a key research focus.
Consequently, there is a need in the art for non-antibiotic compositions that can be administered, preferably on a day-to-day basis—without unwanted side effects and that can be used safely to treat or prevent infections, without the need to define the exact nature of the causative agent first.
One way to achieve this object is to administer a food composition comprising probiotics.
Probiotic micro-organisms are known to have a beneficial effect on the health and well-being of the host. In the last few decades, the use of probiotic bacteria has gained considerable attention as a safe and accessible form of treatment for example for gastrointestinal diseases (Isolauri E, et al., Dig Dis Sci 1994, 39:2595-2600). Typical probiotic bacteria that have been employed in this respect belong to the Lactobacillus or the Bifidobacterium genus.
The effectiveness of probiotics depends, in part, on their ability to resist to digestive tract conditions and adhere to intestinal epithelium. Moreover, a critical aspect conditioning their potential benefit to the host is the probiotic cross-talk with the host's environment and their impact on epithelium barrier and its function.
While some probiotics already achieve very respectable result in terms of colonization of the gastrointestinal tract, it would be desirable to have available a tool to further improve the effectiveness with which the probiotic micro-organisms colonize the gut.